The irony of the situation was not lost on Benedictine Military School fans.

The Cadet football team — expected to be one of the state’s top Class AA teams next fall — was practicing on a field adjacent to Cadet Field where the baseball team was fighting for its playoff life.

On the mound for coach Kevin Farmer’s team was sophomore left-hander Stevie Powers, and it was do or die for the Cadets, who had dropped a 4-2 decision to Thomasville on Wednesday in the first game of a Class AA state playoff doubleheader.

Last fall, the Cadets’ wunderkind led coach Danny Britt’s football team to the Class AA playoffs, and now the fate of the baseball squad rested in Powers’ left hand.

Fortunately for BC, Powers and his teammates were up to the task.

Facing elimination in the best two-of-three series, the Cadets rallied behind Powers’ strong performance to post a 7-2 win.

The doubleheader split sets up a showdown game at 1 p.m. today at Cadet Field.

The winner gains a berth in the Elite Eight, which is a foreign land for Benedictine, albeit not for Farmer.

In his first year as head coach at his alma mater (Class of 1992), Farmer’s team is 26-3 and on the verge of accomplishing something no Cadet team has done in more than a half century.

“The last time BC was in the Elite Eight? I don’t know,” Farmer said. “You would probably have to go back to 1961 when they won the state championship.”

Bill Curley, in his 19th year as a Benedictine teacher, said he could not remember an Elite Eight appearance during his 18 years coaching baseball at the school.

Farmer coached at Calvary Day School for 10 years, where he was 241-68-1, winning state championships in 2005 and ’07 and finishing as a runner-up in 2006 before resigning to pursue a master’s degree.

In the first game of the twin bill, the Bulldogs roughed up Cadet starter Chipper Wylie for four runs in the second inning. That was all Peyton Dixon needed to help the Bulldogs (18-11) snap BC’s 14-game winning streak.

“We left 10 men on base,” Farmer said. “We just didn’t get a hit when we needed one. But you have to give Thomasville credit. They’re a good hitting club, a scrappy club.

“Steve (Powers) controlled the game,” Farmer said. “He mixed up his pitches well, and he stepped up and did a great job. He has great composure for a sophomore. He’s done well all year, and he’s a competitor.

“He wants the ball, and he has a lot of heart. I was glad to have him on the mound.”

Playing as the visitors in the second game, the Cadets scored in the first on Wylie’s double, then the Bulldogs answered with a run of their own.

Benedictine, however, gave Powers all the runs he needed when it scored three times in the second and added three runs in the third for a 6-1 advantage.

Ben Wright’s two-run single highlighted the second inning outburst, and BC scored twice in the third on only one hit.

Powers got stronger as the game progressed, and when he retired the side in the fourth, it marked the first time all day Thomasville did not have an inning with at least one baserunner.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Powers closed with a flourish as he struck out the last two batters. He followed with a routine one-two-three seventh inning.

Brothers reunited

When Farmer looks over to first base from his third base coaching box, he sees a familiar face. His brother, Kyle, coaches first. Kyle played for Kevin at Calvary on two state championship teams, and he graduated from Newberry College last December. According to the school’s website, he was a dean’s list student (3.5 GPA or better).

“He’s been substituting here (BC) and helping coach,” Farmer said. “It’s been wonderful to have him. He’s still mad at me for making him go to Calvary because he wanted to go to BC. He finally made it here.”

While the Cadets have had quite a run, Farmer admitted it’s all been a bit of a surprise.

“When we started the season, we were in a new region, and we were uncertain as to where we would be,” Farmer said. “What we’re doing is exciting. Hopefully, we’ll keep building on it.”

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